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Apple is requiring us to add the ability to sign up and pay for Librem One subscriptions within the Librem Tunnel app before they will allow updated versions in

Apple is requiring us to add the ability to sign up and pay for Librem One subscriptions within the Librem Tunnel app before they will allow updated versions into the App Store. This the basically the summation of it all. Doesn't Apple require the ability to have anonymous logins too when creating accounts on iDevices?

akmarinov 6y ago
It sucks, they don't require it of Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Disney, etc What Librem are doing is the right thing though - go to the press, raise a big stink and Apple will back off. It's been proven to work time and time again.
- meepmorp 6y ago
  > It sucks, they don't require it of Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Disney, etc I believe they do require this of large companies; it's been a while, but IIRC Netflix and Disney+ both allow you to sign up for the service in the app. The HBO app does, too. You can log in with an existing account, but I thought the requirement was that you need to give a user the ability to sign up for a paid service account in app, and that signup needs to bill through Apple. It's a moneymaker, no doubt; as a consumer, though, I appreciate not having to hand over credit card details to a random service I'm trying out for a month.
  - zapzupnz 6y ago
    Netflix took out their sign up screen years ago; you have to subscribe via the website. Disney+ does let you subscribe through Apple.
- protomyth 6y ago
  Yeah. Apple says they don't like developers going to the press, but its pretty much the only thing that actually works. Well, for devices, its basically customer support via threat of class action lawsuit. I'm still a little miffed I had to pay $79 three times to "fix" the iPhone 6 and didn't get a refund after they finally acknowledged the issue.
- pmontra 6y ago
  Not even Apple can sell devices that don't do Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Disney, etc. At least not as many as they are selling now.
- ncw96 6y ago
  Apple has a well known exception to the rule requiring an option to subscribe inside the app for “reader” apps, a vaguely defined which includes Netflix, Spotify, Dropbox, and seemingly whatever else is convenient to Apple. Apple did not lift this requirement for the Hey email app during the controversy over that last year. Instead, they reached a compromise where Hey would offer a free trial of their service inside the app, so they could be in compliance with the rule that an app must have some functionality without an account.
  - wvenable 6y ago
    I'd like to see them try to enforce that rule with banking apps...
    - ogre_codes 6y ago
      You have a banking subscription?
      - mrloop 6y ago
        I've got 2 bank accounts which i pay a monthly subscription fee. For instance https://monzo.com/i/monzo-plus/ https://monzo.com/i/monzo-plus/
    - ncw96 6y ago
      Apple’s in-app purchase/subscription rules only apply to digital goods — not things like banks, Uber, food delivery, etc.
      - hnick 6y ago
        Where would a bitcoin exchange fall in this categorisation? I've seen BTC referred to as a digital good in some pieces.
      - perryizgr8 6y ago
        For me, banking is totally digital. I don't buy anything physical from my bank. Just online things.
bogwog 6y ago
You're also leaving out that the VPN is just one part of the larger "Librem One" subscription package. It's something customers discover through Librem's marketing, buy from Librem on Librem's website not using Apple's payment/account systems, and not exclusive to Apple platforms in any way. Yet Apple is forcing them to give up 30% of their revenue, because they can.
- vbezhenar 6y ago
  What about customers who have found an app in AppStore, wanted to try it out only to find that they need to go through external websites and stuff. Not kind of UX you expect from iPhone.
  - protomyth 6y ago
    Apple got paid for the phone and wouldn't have the app in its app store except for the requirement it be there to be installed in the first place. Rewarding a company for forced discovery is not a healthy thing.
    - Terretta 6y ago
      Unless user didn’t buy the hardware but the experience in which case the reward is theirs by right.
  - heavyset_go 6y ago
    Sounds like rent-seeking from a company that has literally banned all mobile app distribution competition on their platform.
  - jasonjayr 6y ago
    I expect any device with general purpose computing capabilities to allow me to use those capabilities anyway I want. Especially I'm spending $1000 USD on the thing.
    - comex 6y ago

akmarinov 6y ago

It sucks, they don't require it of Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Disney, etc What Librem are doing is the right thing though - go to the press, raise a big stink and Apple will back off. It's been proven to work time and time again.

meepmorp 6y ago
> It sucks, they don't require it of Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Disney, etc I believe they do require this of large companies; it's been a while, but IIRC Netflix and Disney+ both allow you to sign up for the service in the app. The HBO app does, too. You can log in with an existing account, but I thought the requirement was that you need to give a user the ability to sign up for a paid service account in app, and that signup needs to bill through Apple. It's a moneymaker, no doubt; as a consumer, though, I appreciate not having to hand over credit card details to a random service I'm trying out for a month.
- zapzupnz 6y ago
  Netflix took out their sign up screen years ago; you have to subscribe via the website. Disney+ does let you subscribe through Apple.
protomyth 6y ago
Yeah. Apple says they don't like developers going to the press, but its pretty much the only thing that actually works. Well, for devices, its basically customer support via threat of class action lawsuit. I'm still a little miffed I had to pay $79 three times to "fix" the iPhone 6 and didn't get a refund after they finally acknowledged the issue.
pmontra 6y ago
Not even Apple can sell devices that don't do Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Disney, etc. At least not as many as they are selling now.
ncw96 6y ago
Apple has a well known exception to the rule requiring an option to subscribe inside the app for “reader” apps, a vaguely defined which includes Netflix, Spotify, Dropbox, and seemingly whatever else is convenient to Apple. Apple did not lift this requirement for the Hey email app during the controversy over that last year. Instead, they reached a compromise where Hey would offer a free trial of their service inside the app, so they could be in compliance with the rule that an app must have some functionality without an account.
- wvenable 6y ago
  I'd like to see them try to enforce that rule with banking apps...
  - ogre_codes 6y ago
    You have a banking subscription?
    - mrloop 6y ago
      I've got 2 bank accounts which i pay a monthly subscription fee. For instance https://monzo.com/i/monzo-plus/ https://monzo.com/i/monzo-plus/
  - ncw96 6y ago
    Apple’s in-app purchase/subscription rules only apply to digital goods — not things like banks, Uber, food delivery, etc.
    - hnick 6y ago
      Where would a bitcoin exchange fall in this categorisation? I've seen BTC referred to as a digital good in some pieces.
    - perryizgr8 6y ago
      For me, banking is totally digital. I don't buy anything physical from my bank. Just online things.

bogwog 6y ago

You're also leaving out that the VPN is just one part of the larger "Librem One" subscription package. It's something customers discover through Librem's marketing, buy from Librem on Librem's website not using Apple's payment/account systems, and not exclusive to Apple platforms in any way. Yet Apple is forcing them to give up 30% of their revenue, because they can.

vbezhenar 6y ago
What about customers who have found an app in AppStore, wanted to try it out only to find that they need to go through external websites and stuff. Not kind of UX you expect from iPhone.
- protomyth 6y ago
  Apple got paid for the phone and wouldn't have the app in its app store except for the requirement it be there to be installed in the first place. Rewarding a company for forced discovery is not a healthy thing.
  - Terretta 6y ago
    Unless user didn’t buy the hardware but the experience in which case the reward is theirs by right.
- heavyset_go 6y ago
  Sounds like rent-seeking from a company that has literally banned all mobile app distribution competition on their platform.
- jasonjayr 6y ago
  I expect any device with general purpose computing capabilities to allow me to use those capabilities anyway I want. Especially I'm spending $1000 USD on the thing.
  - comex 6y ago